Last weekend, a long awaited Kukurudu Delegates Congress ended with a new executive whose names and faces ‘passeth’ all understanding. As expected, this has led to champagne celebration in places; and fear and panic elsewhere.
It’s clearly the type of congress that should have come with an advisory: ‘Caution: Pain killers advisable ahead of results declaration.’
As it turned out, a few contestants went home blowing their noses in funeral lamentation; and one or two contestants pleading alibi for the swearing-in ceremony due to congress ‘fatigue.’
The rival party on its part, was asleep with one eye open, and clearly heart-broken; but I respect their firm decision to endure collateral waist pains in dignified silence.
At the Congress, the list of candidates offering to serve the Elephant Party, was a virtual Who is Who, and could have been flag bearer contenders: John Boadu the supremo; JFK, Hawa Koomson, Boakye Agyarko, Mustapha Hamid, Nana Akomea, Nana B, Titus Glover; Miracles Aboagye, Abankwa, Thompson, Dr China, etc; a solid team of experienced game changers vying to die for their party.
But a few other candidates drew giggles and could have been confronted by congress organizers: ‘Krakye, before God and Man, which part of your body qualifies you to be Vice Chairman?’ Such contestants must have lost their way, and strayed to the wrong ‘funeral.’ This was a party of lawyers, indeed an Abrɔfosɛm People’s Party. ‘What do you want here’?
Of the 11 vacant slots, the position of 1st Vice Chairman was the most sought after: attracting 13 powdered faces. It was the closest to the Supreme Chair position which attracted only four names, one of whom later took to his heels from stage fright.
The 1st Vice is the spot often eyed by high profile persons who pretend it was all they sought, but in truth using this as stepping stone to higher heavens. In the absence of the Chairman at meetings, the 1st Vice may quietly thank the Good Lord for his boss’s unfortunate toothache, and unwillingly replace him upstairs, until the missing tooth is providentially restored.
Happily, our society permits references to the 1st Vice Chair as simply ‘Chairman Koo Hia,’ since ‘Vice Chairman Koo Hia’ is rather mouthful.
At the congress, the category of 1st Vice Chairman presented several known dignitaries, plus one anonymous soul who in public functions would normally attract the label, ‘et cetera et cetera,’ in the words of the MC. Did ‘Mr Et cetera’ lose his way, jay-walking to a NPP Congress? No.
He was Kojo Bamba, a former bodyguard of charismatic Nana B, who was also in the race. Was it then a contest between Master and Servant? Would Bamba not rather bow out in deference? No. The servant’s campaign message indeed was a celebration of Asante diplomacy at its best:
‘Fellow party members, with due respect; please go ahead and vote for the two learned gentlemen (akrakyefo): Nana B and Nana Akomea. But simply add my name as the third in your order of preference. I am a mere security hand; and will be in attendance to protect the ballot if added; my duty will be to simply stop the rival party from bullying and intimidating us.’
This was not a campaign of boss abuse, insult, vilification among competing kinsmen. It was a fragment of Asante diplomacy dating back to the 19th century.
At the weekend Congress, Bamba looked different among contestants. He was in military gear, depicting the looks of the Burkinabe capo, Captain Ibrahim Traore; followed by teeming throngs of youth. Dressed in military gear, Bamba’s appearance alone spoke louder than words. What was unknown was Bamba’s widespread popularity among delegates at the Congress: accomplices with sealed lips.
The long and weary day and night ended with a results declaration at dawn; which kept trickling in, until the bombshell. While most results conformed to wide expectations, the breaking news swiveled around Kojo Bamba, the faceless wretch who had shattered expectations and won the enviable slot of 1st Vice Chairman. He had humbled his superiors, whacking them to Second and Third Positions. This was a historic revolt by the grassroots, and a major landmark in our political history.
The optics were shattering, and led to a courteous alibi at the swearing-in ceremony, where the two Big Men were unavoidably absent due to ‘fatigue.’
The casualty ward quickly filled to capacity, but has since thinned out. Like true democrats, many have conveyed congratulations to Chairman Boadu and others including Kojo Bamba, the new hero. Quietly disturbed is the rival Umbrella party, currently nail biting, and contemplating a 24-hour retreat. Conference Theme? The Bamba Factor in Ghana’s democracy.
Below, I humbly reproduce excerpts of ‘Chairman’ Bamba’s maiden broadcast to his teeming fans last weekend: Chairman Bamba speaks:
“I come here today armed with profuse thanks. I cannot not rise to leadership leaving my own people behind. Colleagues,please lace your boots for the task ahead…When I was doing my rounds during campaign I pleaded with you to vote for me to win. My promise was to hand over power back to you. During voting at the Congress, you neither gave me the third nor second position as Vice Chairman; you honored me with the position of 1st Vice Chairman.
It is now my duty to give back the power to you, but also add several more parliamentary seats to our party. That’s my job description.
“I will make sure the new national leadership of NPP comes down to your level. Our new leadership has individuals with varying backgrounds. It is often said, the NPP cannot be led by people who are not lawyers, who are without master’s degree or professorial titles. I will prove them wrong… Politics is not won with certificates but with humility, self-sacrifice…commitment and courage.
I will be guided by these virtues to prove others wrong. You can be leader if you are human with blood circulating in you; if you have a tongue to speak and ears to listen. You can be even aim to be president: it is neither by riches nor poverty.
Those of you who were misled to follow another political party because they embraced all including grassroots; today, your own brother is here. Please file behind me, and lend me your support.
“Tro tro drivers, auto mechanics, carpenters, your own is now here. When you want to visit me, there is no need to write an application; no need to book an appointment…my office is yours.…Come help me bring back the NPP. Are you not proud your own man comes next after Mahmoud Bawumia and John Boadu. Are you not proud? Together we can even exceed the achievements of our forebears.
“I who am undeserving… I who was taken for nothing in a party full of lawyers and doctors, full of professors; a party reserved for people with multiple degrees. A party not cut for senior high school graduates… You would normally not find me here. But today, the party has rewarded the servant working under his master; it has rewarded a mere tenant, a mere security guard…If the party has rewarded me, Kojo Bamba, a poor underdog.. if it has uplifted a virtual homeless, let no one belittle themselves… Based on your hard work for the party, you will be rewarded. Help me to succeed so it may not be said ‘we told you, those holding no degrees or masters; non-PhDs, non-lawyers, non-medical doctors cannot lead the NPP.’ I will do all I can with your help, to prove sceptics wrong.
“Your NPP party does not discriminate against the rich or poor, literate or non-literate, or those with or without academic certificates. Note that I am not beyond advice. Feel free to come and advise me when I return from break; so I will be well equipped to contribute my quota working for DMB. I am a Ghetto Boy; your own is now here… Gone are the days when we worked tirelessly for others to enjoy. My father once told me ‘He who has pounded the food to make a pleasant meal, cannot be stopped dipping his hands…’
“Today, I virtually panic waking up to see where I am; a mere underdog.”
kyankah@ashesi.edu.gh
